The commuter allowance is increasingly in the focus of GPLB audits – and for good reason! Changes such as teleworking, own account transport or the use of a public transport ticket are often not taken into account, which can lead to expensive mistakes.
Requirements for commuter allowance
Employees are entitled to the so-called transport tax credit, which is intended to compensate for the journeys between home and work at a flat rate – regardless of the actual costs incurred.
The commuter allowance can also be claimed if:
- The use of a means of mass transport is reasonable and the commute to work is at least 20 km (“small commuter allowance”).
- Or if the commute to work is at least 2 km and the use of a means of mass transport is unreasonable or not possible due to the distance (“large commuter allowance”).
In principle, employees are entitled to the commuter allowance if they visit their workplace at least four times a month – a point that is particularly important for people with home office arrangements. If the distance between home and work is covered on at least eleven days in a calendar month, the full commuter allowance is entitled. With eight to ten trips per month, there are two thirds, with four to seven trips one third.
Even in the case of part-time employees who only travel to work on one or two days a week, care must be taken to ensure that the commuter allowance is taken into account on a pro rata basis – i.e. with one third or two thirds respectively. This graduation must also be taken into account when calculating the commuter euro.
Motor vehicle benefits in kind
There is no entitlement to the commuter allowance if the commute to work is made in an employer-owned vehicle – regardless of whether it is equipped with a combustion engine or an electric motor.
Commuter allowance vs. teleworking allowance
The teleworking allowance can only be claimed if the employee works exclusively in the home office on a working day – i.e. does not travel to the workplace on that day. Days on which work is done in the home office as well as visits to the company, the field service or a business trip are not included. Therefore, it should be checked whether the teleworking days stated in the pay slip contradict the commuter allowance claimed.
Commuter allowance and public transport ticket
Since employers often cover the costs of public transport tickets, the question arises as to whether the commuter allowance can still be claimed.
With regard to the granting of public transport tickets, the following applies in principle:
Employers can fully or partially finance tickets for public transport that are valid for a longer period of time (such as weekly, monthly or annual tickets, e.g. the climate ticket) and are valid at least near the place of residence or work, without having to recognise a benefit in kind (Section 26 (5) (b) EStG). As long as these requirements are met, the provision remains tax-free and is therefore a popular employee benefit.
However, if a public transport ticket is financed by the employer, the commuter allowance must be reduced by the monthly amount paid by the employer. The commuter euro remains unaffected by this reduction and can continue to be claimed in full, provided that there is a fundamental entitlement to the commuter allowance.
Own account transport
If the employee uses an offered transport service on more than half of the working days during the wage payment period, he or she is not entitled to the commuter allowance for this period.
However, an employee who uses own account transport on most working days during the wage payment period, but still has to cover a certain part of the distance between his or her home and the boarding point himself, receives the commuter allowance for this part of the route.
